Uso do habitat pela palapala (Hippotragus Níger) no Parque Nacional do Limpopo

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the characteristics of the habitat between areas of intense use and areas of moderate use and between areas used in feeding hours and hours of rest by palapala herd in Limpopo National Park. A GPS-UHF collar was mounted on a palapala, which recorded the geographical coordinates of the locations used by the herd in every 2 between February and April 2008. Based on geographic coordinates, the distribution of space utilization was estimated using the ArcGIS adaptive kernel method. In places used by the herd during hours of feeding (8:00 am and 8:00 pm) and rest (2:00 am and 14: 00h) in areas of intense use and in areas of low use, the following data were collected on the characteristics of the habitat: cover by trees and shrubs within a radius of 25 m, height of trees, topography, predominant tree and grass species, topography and termites. At frequencies of occurrence of the different categories of each habitat variable in the locations used with different intensities and periods of the day were compared using contingency tables. The results show that there are no significant differences between areas used with different intensities and activity of the herd in terms of coverage by trees and shrubs. Regardless of the intensity of the use of space and activity of the herd, it used with higher frequency (about 50%) places with 11 - 25% tree cover and 1 - 10% and 11- 25% shrubs. There was no significant difference in the height of trees between sites used by the herd with different intensities and activity of the herd. The herd used often areas covered by 6-10 m tall trees. The herd used it most high topography areas regardless of the intensity of the use of space and the herd activity. (TRADUÇÃO NOSSA)